Some are scaling back summer vacations

Dena Feldstein Brody sketched out an $8,000 budget for a 12-day family vacation this summer in England, France and Spain. But those plans were two years ago. Since then, the dollar has plummeted and air fares have soared. So Brody and her husband and daughter are setting their sights closer to home, renting a vacation […]

PM writes to G8 urging action on food scarcity

Gordon Brown raised fresh concerns about the impact of biofuels yesterday, as he put rising food prices on the world agenda by writing to fellow G8 leaders to prepare an international package on food scarcity. He wants the issue to be on the agenda of the G8 summit in Japan in July, and said he […]

Venezuela to Boost Oil, Gas, Refining, Build Own Rigs

Venezuela plans to boost its oil and gas production, refining and reserves and ship more oil to China, an executive at state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA said. Venezuela will pump 3.5 million barrels a day of oil this year and 6.8 million barrels a day in 2021, said Luis Vierma, PDVSA’s vice president of exploration […]

Scientist Seeks Ways To Squeeze More Oil Out Of Existing Wells

Lewis Brown continues to devote much of his more than 40 years in petroleum microbiology figuring out how to squeeze more petroleum out of abandoned or soon-to-be-abandoned oil fields. The Mississippi State researcher already has extended the life of one field by 17 years. That may sound far-fetched for those unfamiliar with his ongoing research […]

Oil price could hit $150 within five years, says Guinness

Experienced commodity investor Tim Guinness expects the oil price will hit $150 a barrel in the next five to 10 years before a demand shock reverses the current trend of increasing prices. Guinness, lead manager on the recently launched Guinness Asset Management Global Energy fund as well as a raft of other propositions, said the […]

Australia: Wither peak oil at Rudd’s 2020 Summit?

One early action that has captured the public’s imagination is Rudd’s call for a two-day summit in April of 1000 leading Australians to, “… bring together some of the best and brightest brains from across the country to tackle the long term challenges confronting Australia’s future – challenges which require long-term responses from the nation […]

Lost at sea

It is crucial for those warning others about the dangers of peak oil to look at the effects of increasing oil prices (graph left) on economic growth. For some years to come, peak oil constraints will be manifest in the oil price, not in disruptive, recurring and systemic spot shortages—at least in the United States. […]

Warming Trends Rise In Large Ocean Areas – Study

Warming trends in a third of the world’s large ocean regions are two to four times greater than previously reported averages, increasing the risk to marine life and fisheries, a UN-backed environmental study said. Overfishing, coastal pollution and degradation of water quality were common in all 64 large marine ecosystems studied by scientists who contributed […]

Climate change forecasts ‘invalid’ – researcher

Karori researcher Kersten Green has told MPs there was no need to pass the Government’s Climate Change (Emissions Trade and Renewable Preference) Bill — because global warming forecasts are unscientific. Dr Green, the author of a peer-reviewed paper auditing the forecasting methods of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), opposed the bill because he […]

Oil roars to record over $112 on U.S. inventory drop

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil surged to a record high over $112 a barrel on Wednesday after a government report showed a sharp drop in U.S. inventories ahead of the summer driving season. U.S. crude settled up $2.37 at $110.87 a barrel after peaking at $112.21 and eclipsing the previous record of $111.80 hit March […]

The Big Picture: Resource Collapse

Truism #1: Human society We (the human we) have pushed the limits of many of the resources our civilization has come to depend upon. Oil is the most talked-about example, but from topsoil to fisheries, water to wheat, many of the resources underpinning life and society as we know it face significant threat. In many […]

Oil, Iraq and U.S. Foreign Policy: A Way Forward

While watching General Petraeus’ testimony before Congress yesterday, it became increasingly clear to me that United States’ foreign, military and fiscal policies are in complete disarray. Those of you familiar with my outspoken views on peak oil and the weak U.S. dollar will not be surprised at such a statement. However, before you conclude this […]

Dems push for forcing Iraq to spend its oil surplus

WASHINGTON Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said pausing troop reductions would signal to the Iraqis that the United States was committed to the war indefinitely. “Rather, we need to put continuous and increasing pressure on the Iraqis to settle their political differences, to pay for their own reconstruction with their […]

South Africa: Eskom Wants to Lift Power Tariffs by 43% Next Year

(Bloomberg) — Eskom Holdings Ltd., South Africa’s state-run power utility, wants to raise prices 43 percent next year as it bids to double tariffs by April 2009 to pay for more expensive coal and fund expansion. The utility will “barely break even” in the year ended March 31 and could post a “significant” loss this […]

Calderon’s bid for oil liberalization gets ho-hum reaction

MEXICO CITY Independent oil expert David Shields said “there’s no real vision behind it.” “It’s a proposal that tries to give something to everybody, and it doesn’t seem to get very far in anything,” Shields said. Calderon stressed that the bill will not privatize Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. Mexico’s leftist opposition has threatened massive protests […]

Enterprise Shuts Gas Line for Up to 4 Weeks on Leak

(Bloomberg) — Enterprise Product Partners LP, the second-largest U.S. pipeline partnership by market value, shut its Independence Hub natural gas platform and a related pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico for repairs that may take four weeks. A leak on the export pipeline was detected at the $630 million Independence Hub facility this morning, company […]

As Oil Touches All Time Highs, Our D.O.E. Takes Us For Fools

Our oil whiz, Secretary Bodman of the Department of Energy, perhaps a distant cousin of “Great Job Brownie” of Katrina fame, wrote a letter to the New York Times 3.30.08 rebutting points in an editorial “Pain at the Pump and Beyond” 3.25.08, proceeding I would imagine on the assumption that everyone is as much out […]

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Accelerating Rapidly

Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the burning of fossil fuels stood at a record 8.38 gigatons of carbon (GtC) in 2006, 20 percent above the level in 2000. Emissions grew 3.1 percent a year between 2000 and 2006, more than twice the rate of growth during the 1990s. Carbon dioxide emissions have been growing […]

Venezuela seeks new operator for Chalmette refinery

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela is seeking to remove Exxon Mobil as the operator of its joint-venture refinery in Chalmette, Louisiana, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Wednesday . The move escalates the OPEC nation’s battle with the biggest publicly traded oil company sparked by Venezuela’s takeover of a multibillion-dollar oil project last year. Venezuela already […]

North Dakota — the next Saudi Arabia

“I think the peak oil folks got it wrong. As usual. Capitalism beats the fear mongers. Again.” So says a post at the blog Classical Values (“End the culture war by restoring classical values”), passed on to me by a reader. The catalyst for this dismissal of peak oil anxieties? News of the imminent release […]

Cap-and-trade push grows in U.S.

Republicans vow to battle Democrats on legislation; higher oil sands costs loom WASHINGTON The mandatory targets would drive up costs for the coal and oil industries, in particular, and could impose a significant new burden on Canada’s oil sands producers, particularly those that plan to ship raw bitumen to the United States for upgrading and […]

Forecaster raises Atlantic hurricane number

MIAMI (Reuters) – The noted Colorado State University hurricane research team on Wednesday raised the number of tropical storms and hurricanes it expects to form in the upcoming Atlantic storm season. The team founded by forecasting pioneer Bill Gray increased its outlook by two tropical storms to 15, and by one hurricane to eight, compared […]

Car rentals go ‘green’

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) — The car rental business is slowly undergoing a green evolution, packing its fleets with more hybrids and fuel efficient vehicles. But so far, it’s been a cautious transition, since there’s no telling whether consumer demand will meet the supply. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the nation’s largest car rental company, launched one of its […]

‘Splash and dash’ hits UK biofuels firm

The enormous damage being done by “splash and dash” imports of American biodiesel were highlighted today when one of the UK’s leading operators, D1 Oils, said it was closing down all its refining operations in Britain after running up a Nearly 90 staff in Middlesbrough and Bromborough, Merseyside, could lose their jobs as the newly […]

KunstlerCast #8: The Glossary of Nowhere

When James Howard Kunstler wrote The Geography of Nowhere, it was to give people “the vocabulary to understand what’s wrong with the places they ought to know best.” In this installment we run down a few choice Kunstlerisms, like “parking lagoons”, “nature Band-Aids” and “patriotic totems.” Kunstler also tells us why the depressing topic of […]

Americans Don’t Love Trucks Anymore

High gas prices and the housing bust combine to drive pickup truck sales down to their second lowest level since 2000 By any measure, March was a lousy month for the car business. But for Detroit, it was truly dreadful. Pickup trucks are taking a real beating. The combination of high fuel prices and the […]

Official urges China’s power plants to invest in coal sector

BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) — China’s electricity regulator has advised major power companies to merge with or acquire coal producers and transporters to help stabilize costs and supplies. Utilities could slow the expansion of their thermal-power capacity and instead invest in coal transport firms and mines, Zou Yiqiao, director of the price and financial supervision […]

The Energy Scene in India

As I traveled through India on a recent business trip, the topic of energy was constantly on my mind (as it is every time I travel). I found out some interesting things about jatropha, toured a sugarcane ethanol plant, found a wind farm in the middle of nowhere, and encountered a native ethanol skeptic. Here […]

Oil Rises, Gasoline Climbs to a Record, on U.S. Supply Decline

Bloomberg) — Crude oil rose above $111 a barrel in New York and gasoline surged to a record after a government report showed that U.S. supplies unexpectedly dropped. Crude oil inventories fell 3.15 million barrels to 316 million last week, the first decline since February, the Energy Department said. A 2.3-million-barrel gain was forecast, according […]

Saudi Aramco Expects Khursaniyah On-Stream This Month

(Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia will start adding 500,000 barrels a day of oil to its total capacity when the Khursaniyah field comes on stream this month, an official at state-run oil company Saudi Aramco said. The “Khursaniyah field is coming on this month and within a month will be at 300,000 barrels a day,” Abdulaziz […]

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